A Defender's Heart. Tara Taylor Quinn
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Название: A Defender's Heart
Автор: Tara Taylor Quinn
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Эротическая литература
Серия: Where Secrets are Safe
isbn: 9781474084697
isbn:
“I invited him because I am over him,” she said again. “Because I knew I could handle it. And because I’d like us to be able to be friendly. If he’s still in town, we’re bound to run into each other at some point.” As Raine had said, she was a criminologist with an undergraduate degree in psychology. A polygraphist who used the test as one of various methods of assessing the truthfulness of the people she tested. One of the skills that made her different from the rest was that she didn’t just use a predetermined set of questions. When something raised a dubious response, she listened to what wasn’t being said and asked more questions until she got a response that gave the signs of being truthful. The scientifically based insights she offered, coupled with the opinions she wrote, made her unique—and valuable. In the state of California, because of the track record she’d quickly built, she was considered an expert witness.
And Cedar defended criminals.
“Charles was okay with you inviting him?” Lianna asked.
“Yes.”
The girls exchanged another glance.
“Now what?”
“Don’t you find it the least bit odd that a guy doesn’t mind if his fiancée’s ex is at their engagement party?”
“Charles trusts me.” That part sounded a bit weak, even to her, but... “And I think he wants Cedar to see that I’ve moved on. He wants him to know that I’m with another man now.”
He hadn’t actually said so, but she’d read that into the conversation that had taken place between them. When she’d asked if it bothered him that she wanted to invite Cedar, he’d lied to her. He blinked more rapidly when he lied—making him an easy man to read.
One of the many things she loved about him.
She’d continued talking to him until she got to a semblance of the truth.
“Listen, you two, I promise you, I’m over Cedar Wilson. Completely. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to prove that to you.”
Instead of looking convinced, or even somewhat placated, her two best friends suddenly looked stricken.
“I’m guessing turning around ought to do it.” The voice came from behind her and Heather froze. If it was possible to live without a heartbeat, she was doing it.
She knew that voice. Had heard it in her dreams for months after he’d betrayed her.
And woken up with wet cheeks every time.
But no more. She’d cried her last tears for the man who’d purposely manipulated her, who’d used her skills to set a guilty man free.
I’M OVER CEDAR. COMPLETELY.
There she was. Heather Michaels. His Heather. Standing right in front of him.
Saying she was over him completely.
“Cedar! You made it. How are you?”
She sounded like her mother. Or any of the other thirty or forty voices coming from the front room. Superficial. Yet not ten minutes earlier, he’d been certain that the voices emanating from the party had to be sincere. Because the Heather he knew wouldn’t have been celebrating her engagement with her parent’s crowd.
What had they done to her?
Rather, was this what he’d done to her?
“I’m well, and you?”
Raine stood just off to her left. He wanted to catch the other woman’s eye. It was good to see her, too. She’d been Heather’s roommate when he and Heather first met. Had been there through all of their ups and downs.
It wouldn’t be good to be on the receiving end of one of those looks of disappointment he’d occasionally seen on her face in the past. When he’d shown up late. Or not at all. Without bothering to call and let Heather know.
He’d been all about saving his clients’ quality of life. At least that was how he’d described it. The way he’d thought about it. When he’d thought about it. If he’d ever thought about it.
“She’s great!” Lianna burst into the silence that had fallen, alerting him to the fact that he and Heather had been standing there, staring wordlessly at each other.
He could only imagine what she was getting from him. What “tells” he was sending.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said, instinctively sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Feeling damned conspicuous because she’d read some kind of message into that, too. Figuring he had something to hide. He wanted to pull them back out, but if he did so, that would communicate another message he didn’t want her to have.
He’d learned a lot from her. And not nearly enough.
“Um, can you two please leave us alone for a sec?” Heather’s tone had changed. Her gaze was still locked with his, but she sounded more like the confident woman he’d been with for the best five years of his life.
Pretty pathetic that his best five years included debts he’d spend the rest of his life paying off—debts of the soul. And he’d die without ever having paid them off. In spite of the millions he’d amassed and was successfully investing. This wasn’t a matter of money...
His peripheral vision caught a movement. The two women slid closer to Heather.
“Please,” she said to them. “Just for a sec. I’m fine.”
No one moved for a long few seconds. He had the sense of stopped time, the kind that was filled with tension and you knew you were at a make-it-or-break-it point. His cue to move in for the kill. The witness on the stand was about to crack. To present him with the source of that shadow of a doubt he had to put in the minds of the jurors.
His jaw ached with the effort it took to keep his mouth shut, the muscles in his neck bearing the brunt of the tension as he remained locked on Heather, rather than turning his manipulative abilities on her friends to help her get them out of there.
He wanted her alone.
God, how he wanted her alone.
But whatever was going on between Heather and her friends—the choice to leave her with the wolf or not—was solely up to them. He could use his skills and probably get what he wanted—Heather alone. But he couldn’t take on any more of that kind of debt.
There simply weren’t enough years left in his life to pay for it all. Unless medical science found a way for a guy to live to a thousand. He figured that just might cover it, considering that a few of the worst criminals he’d put back on the street not only came with the current victim to atone for, but the future ones, as well...
More movement. Heather’s deep blue eyes seemed to glisten as her friends СКАЧАТЬ